Wii Motion Plus - Innovative?

With the announcement of the Nintendo Wii at E3 2006 the gamers community quickly plunged into a world of possibilities that were previously a mirage in the industry of video games. Using our own movements to give life to characters that marked our lives, was a scene that began to enter the subconscious of each and finally pull the console to a tide of unparalleled success throughout history.

Nintendo is a company that always gives a good introduction of new concepts in their games. Now, not only have revolutionized something, as all their franchises will gain new life through a unique and new control scheme, with all the potential to bring new life to older games. From the Link's sword in Zelda, to helping Mario to save the princess Peach, the possibilities were endless, and it was able to get business throughout the simmer of excitement and turn it into something tangible, that company would be Nintendo.

However, over the months, this whole scenario is not turned out. 1:1 The controls are still a lie, and all that the Wii Remote finally bring, was a replacement for a normal button with a gesture. Indeed this scenario does not appeal to anyone, and while the casual side of the community embraced with satisfaction the friendly nature of the system, the hardcore players criticized the direction that the Wii had adopted, with an avalanche of so-called party-games or titles to hit the gym line-up available and affected the overall quality of it. The fatigue effect during a gameplay session was among the many complaints, because few companies that have the potential advantage of the Wii Remote and make what had been requested. As a defense in this scenario, there were also those who criticize his own command of the console saying that the technology has some flaws, because the movement is detected only in some directions and intensity of the movement given by the arm of the player not be measured accurately. Perhaps the control technology is always to be well planned by Nintendo, or maybe not. We do not know what happened, and most likely we will never know if the company really expect Japanese hold the command as it is by the end of the lifespan of the console, but what is certain is that soon a solution to this problem was found, and the project of the Wii Motion Plus was placed on the table and then announced in E3 2008, or two years after the announcement of the console.

Speaking a little of the games so far released by Nintendo, can become illuminating the limitations of the Wii Remote. Referring only 1st party games because they tend to be those that exploit the best that the system has to offer, we had great games like Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Strikers, Metroid Prime 3 or even Zelda: Twilight Princess, the latter being one of the most expectations created when imagined with the characteristics of the new controller. A sword is the main focus of gameplay 1:1, because easily simulates the movements of the same with your Wii Remote. The game is fantastic, however, the roles of Link attacks are far from respecting what was expected. That is, each attack of a sword is triggered by our movement, whether sudden or mild, is for the left or right, so it is only the replacement of a traditional motion as is the press of a button for something that involves another type of movement on our part. That initially, although it is a limited technology, has surprised many people, perhaps because this is a novelty. What is certain is that with time passing and the "fashion", the errors were dormant, and the players quickly began thinking of going a different way to detect problems and how the game could be even better if there was a detection most realistic of our movements.

However, the Wii Remote is not based solely on a technology to capture the movement, also have infra-red, making the laser control of an important ally in certain genres of games. Taking now Mario Galaxy as an example, after the capture of movement in this game also have missed out something, the pointer has introduced a new mechanic in the series, becoming the support of multi-player game and focus on collecting the scattered pieces of stars by levels. The role of this mechanism is somewhat beside the brilliance of the game, but it was the note that the pointer was effective to perform its function.

The role of the Wii Motion Plus has to be by itself a proof that the error is in the movement, and nothing more, because the only thing that fixes the accessory. The pointer will remain the same, derived from the already perfect and shows a competent performance when tested in several games. But then what really promises the Wii Motion Plus?

At E3 2008 we could see some potential, and what was emphasized, is that actually there are reasons for excitement around the new command. 1:1 The feeling seems to be better represented and to the pulse of our movement is now detected, allowing just a different control of our actions. Star Wars and its duels with swords of light can gain new life, and already released games like Force Unleashed could have another type of quality and create a wave of enthusiasm. If you exchanged the sword for rackets, quickly comes a new application relevant to this accessory, and indeed already are weighing two titles in development, was one and Grand Slam Tennis and Virtua Tennis series already renowned as a new chapter for 2009. Those who have had opportunity to test this new gameplay in tennis simulators relate to its effectiveness as a fine and successful. Our movements are finally captured with the required accuracy and the bar is set very high levels to the console that is currently sold as quickly as ever, reaching the 50 million sold very recently. With all this innovation that is beginning to receive positive feedback, sales rise more promises and programs have new reason to produce quality games and finally the technology available to make what probably already wanted to do over the years of the Wii. Proof that the technology was desired are many projects already announced and who want to take advantage of new sensors for movement. It is a new success to the sight by Nintendo, and nobody wants to stay behind.

Wii Sports, a tennis simulator immensely popular, everyone can agree that the fun is in this mini-game, despite having a very basic gameplay, which only depends on timing of our movements. But now try to add the same game, the Wii Motion Plus, and instead of having a more relaxed experience, we have something much more demanding in that time we have our command will be key, how to hit the ball and tilt the Wii Remote will affect the trajectory of the ball, among many other things. Can all this would result in a level of gameplay fun enough to grab the player to the accessory? Only time will ultimately dictate all that, so for now we even expect the Wii Motion Plus is launched, and let the industry decide the future. Future which may well pass by presenting a new challenge to Nintendo that may have to revise its schedule of inspections in a future generation of consoles.

Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed